This study focuses on the psychological development of physically abused children and the relationship between this development and the child-rearing environment of the home. While clinical evidence shows that abused children are at risk for a wide range of psychological problems, few controlled empirical studies exist and there is no research relating aspects of the enduring environment of the abused child to the child's development. This study uses a multi-method approach to obtain information. The child's development is assessed in relation to cognitive and physical maturity, affective behavior, interpersonal problem solving skills, and behavior problems. The child-rearing environment is assessed in terms of psychosocial environment of the home, family social network and social supports, parental frustration to tolerance, child-rearing attitudes and practices and parental mood. Psychopathology in the parents is also assessed. Subjects are 4- to 10-year-old abused and control children and their families. Preliminary analyses indicate greater behavior problems in the abused children, more punitive and authoritarian child-rearing attitudes and practices in the abusive parents, and more depressed mood and smaller social networks for abusive mothers than for controls.